Corporate Profits Also Surged, Rising 6% From the First Quarter to an Annual Rate of $1.840 Trillion

Corporate profits surged last quarter while the U.S. economy posted robust growth, putting the economic expansion back on steady footing headed into its sixth year.

Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of goods and services produced across the economy, grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.2% in the second quarter after accounting for inflation, the Commerce Department said.